We Can Start It Together
by thestrals-on-parade
Summary: Just a little story about the night after Hermione and Ginny come home from their last year of Hogwarts, shows Hermione/Ginny friendship and Hermione/Ron and Ginny/Harry relationships. Rating is just to be safe, but it should probably have been K.


**Author's Note: So, this is the first fan fiction I've ever written. It's just a little idea that came to me over the weekend. Any comments would be welcomed and extremely helpful. I hope you like it, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read my story, and of course, all characters and the Harry Potter world belong to JK Rowling.**

We Can Start It Together

I turned over on my camp bed, unable to get comfortable on the nearly unfamiliar furniture. The last time I had been there was months before, back during Christmas break. I saw Ginny's hair, fiery even in the darkness, and her body moving with slow even breaths, but I knew that she wasn't really asleep.

"Can you believe that it's over?" I asked quietly, even though my voice still seemed too loud when it was only accompanied by the Burrow's occasional creaking.

Ginny rolled over on her bed then, and looked pensively down at her bedroom floor. "No." she admitted, looking up at me apprehensively for a moment.

"Neither can I." I confessed, frowning as I looked over at her dresser and the pictures that rested on top of it.

The one that caught my eye was from the Weasley's trip to Egypt, the summer before my third year. Things had been so much simpler then. The picture wasn't the same one that had appeared in the Daily Prophet, but was colorful and much less formal. All of their hair shone amazingly bright against the background of sand dunes. My heart hurt for a moment when I saw Fred's smiling face as in the picture he made a comment to George, but was warmed up again when Ron's thirteen year old self waved excitedly, as tall and gangly as ever, his freckles made darker by the desert's sun.

"Do you remember the last time you asked me that?" Ginny questioned, pushing her blankets aside and sitting up, pulling her knees to her chest.

I sat up too; we both knew that we wouldn't be getting to sleep any time soon. "Of course." I told her. It had been our first night back at the Burrow after the Battle, our first night back in that very room. We'd both still been bruised and cut, scared and sad and shaken, but so relieved at the same time. "A bit strange, isn't it?" I said, going back to the present, "That was about something so horrible, but…I mean, Hogwarts wasn't so bad."

Ginny smirked at me, "Of course you wouldn't think so, you never even needed to study for anything but would for the fun of it. I had to study loads and hated every second of it." We both laughed quietly for a second before she continued, "But, I suppose you're right; ignoring a few things, last year, Umbridge, my entire first year—" she shuddered once, "—I think I'll really miss Hogwarts."

"Was that comment about your first year referring to the diary or that Valentine you sent Harry?" I asked her nonchalantly, and wasn't surprised when a pillow flew at my head as I laughed. "Sorry," I told her, trying to suppress my smile.

She rolled her eyes at me and flipped her hair over her shoulders. "If you ask me that worked out rather well." She said defiantly.

I let my smile free right then, "Yeah, it did." I told her, thinking of her and Harry greeting each other earlier that day as we'd gotten off the train and King's Cross and how neither of them had ever looked happier.

"Anyway," I moved on, "It's just so strange to think that now we'll actually be starting our lives. After the Battle we knew that we'd be able to, but the two of us also knew we wouldn't be for at least a year, but now…" I trailed off, getting overwhelmed by thinking of all the possibilities.

"Well," Ginny reasoned, "You have a direction you're going in; you know you'll be with Ron." She made a face.

"I suppose," I admitted, "And as far as a job, obviously I want to help the house elves. You don't have that direction yet."

"Actually," Ginny said, smiling broadly.

"What?" I urged her on.

"Well," She said, "The other morning, in the mail, I got something…from the Holyhead Harpies."

"Ginny that's fantastic!" I told her, a bit louder than I'd meant to. We both sat quietly, listening for any footsteps. When nothing happened I asked her, at a more appropriate volume, "What did they say?"

She put on a humble smile before saying, "Nothing much, just that they thought I was good and that they wouldn't mind it if I came to their try-outs next month."

"They want you to play for them?" I said excitedly, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I wanted to tell Harry first, and…"

I shook my head at her, "I understand. Congratulations, and don't worry, I won't tell Ron; I'm sure you'll want to see his face when he finds out."

Ginny merely smiled mischievously in response.

We fell quiet for a moment before I told her. "I think I'll go downstairs and read for a bit, there's no way I'll ever get to sleep now. Coming?"

She shook her head, lying back down, "No, I think I'll try to rest, I want to get up early tomorrow and practice flying for a bit."

I nodded at her before getting a book out of my trunk and leaving.

It became obvious to me, as I walked down the stairs, that Ginny and I hadn't been the only people up. I was surprised, though, when I peeked into the kitchen and found Ron and Harry.

"What are you two doing up so late?" I asked them, sitting down at the table with them, beside Ron.

"Couldn't sleep." Harry answered before taking a bite out of one of the sandwiches they had apparently made.

"Why couldn't I hear you come downstairs?" I asked, realizing that, even though I should have, I had heard nothing.

"We cast a silencing charm on Ginny's door, figured the two of you didn't need us waking you up." Ron said.

I smiled at him, "That's so sweet."

Harry shook his head, "No, please, not in front of me."

I smiled at him, feeling the faintest of blushes, "Sorry."

"Well," Ron said, changing the subject, "No question what you were going to do." He nodded at my book, which I'd set on the table in front of me. "Nothing ever changes with you, does it, Hermione?"

I wrinkled my nose at him, picking up my copy of _Hogwarts,__A__History_and clutching it to my chest, "It's a very good book. Maybe if _you__'__d_read more then you could realize that."

Harry rolled his eyes as he finished his sandwich, taking his plate to the sink.

"I've read." Ron said defensively.

"Something that wasn't required for school?" I questioned.

"Yes!" He insisted.

"Within the last two years?" I pressed.

"Yes, Hermione." He said exasperatedly, staring down his long nose at me, "Believe it or not I have read something that wasn't on a Hogwarts supply list."

"What was it?" I demanded. "Something about quidditch?"

"No," He said, before adding sheepishly, "Something that the twins got me."

"Well then," I said triumphantly, "I'm sure that gave you _loads_of knowledge."

Ron muttered something then, and I wasn't sure what, but I could have sworn it was something like _Enough__to__get__you._

"Well, if you're done with this," Harry said, causing both our heads to snap up to where he stood by the sink, "I think I'll head upstairs again. Goodnight."

"Night." Ron said, getting up and taking his own plate to the sink.

"Goodnight, Harry." I told him.

A moment later Ron turned to me, and nodded toward the living room. We sat on the couch together, with him leaning back and me cross-legged and sideways so I could face him.

"I missed you, you know." He said before leaning forward and softly pressing his lips to mine.

I could have kissed him forever, but there were things I needed to talk to him about, things I couldn't have talked with Ginny about.

"What do I do now?" I asked him anxiously.

He understood what I meant and told me, "You start trying to figure out your life."

I sighed. He started tracing the scar on my arm. It was a habit he had picked up, one that I hadn't understood at first, especially since I knew how much he hated those marks, _that__word_. I'd finally come to realize why he did it, though. He would trace it to try and turn it into something that could make me happy, instead of just having the terrible memories of Malfoy Manor associated with it, I could have good ones of our time together instead. It was things like that that made me love him.

"But how do I do that?" I questioned, "Now that Hogwarts is over…well, I don't have to worry about failing anything there, but now if I fail at something, if I mess up, my whole life could be ruined."

"'Cause we've never been a situation like that before." He said, raising an eyebrow at me.

I let out my breath and narrowed my eyes at him, even if he did have a good point.

"Look, Hermione," he said softly, so caringly that I could hardly believe it was the same Ron I'd met on the Hogwarts Express so long ago, "You're not alone, we're going to be figuring this out together."

"How?" I asked him, "You've already started your life, working at the shop with George—"

"Is only temporary," he cut me off.

"What?" I asked him. He'd been so happy working side by side with George, helping him develop new products and handle the everyday hassles of the shop, not to mention the new one that was about to open in Hogsmeade. I couldn't believe that he wanted to leave that.

"Don't get me wrong," He said, "I like working there and all, but…that was never what I wanted to do. I always wanted to, you know, help catch the dark wizards out there. At least I have since forth year."

"But you've been so happy and—"

"It was nice to have the break from it all," Ron said, "But that's all it was, a break. My real job was always going to be working as an Auror."

"But—"

"This way, we can start it together." He said.

"Start what?" I asked him, still having a hard time keeping up with all of this new information.

"Life." He said simply.

I smiled at him, taking in how big that was. Ronald Bilius Weasley, _Ron_, wanted us to start our lives together. Even with as many times as he'd told me he loved me, it was hard to believe that his was real, not just one of the dreams I'd had when I was sixteen.

"You're amazing." I told him.

"And you're bloody brilliant," he said, the tips of his ears turning just the slightest bit red, "So there's no way we can fail."

I laughed quietly at him. "I suppose you're right." I just stared at him for a moment before telling him all that I was thinking, "I love you."

He smiled his goofy grin that just made me feel that even more, "I love you too."

We sat there and talked for a little while longer before I told him, "Ron?"

"Yes, love?"

"Before we start our lives, we should probably get some sleep."

He laughed again and got up, leading me up the stairs so that we could go back to bed, and then do whatever we wanted. Together.


End file.
